The big day has finally come. Will Kumiko pass the auditions?
While I never had to do any type of auditions for school’s concert band since our band never competed in nationals (although there are regional concert bands people can try out for from my knowledge), I have done auditions during my years of playing the piano.
For piano auditions, depending on the level you attempt, one has to memorize a certain piece or play pieces of a certain difficulty in front of a judge. The music theory test is usually optional. While I messed up once, I usually do well in these auditions. Besides playing a number of pieces with at least one memorized depending on the level, one also have to play certain number of scales, cords and arpeggios requested by the judge. Afterwards, the judge writes his/her comments on one’s performances for each song and then gives an overall evaluation. After two weeks or so, you get a results sheet showing how well you did.
As for the auditions in this episode, they are what I expected. Taki basically have them play certain sections of a piece and then make his decision after everyone performed. As expected, Kumiko decided to practice early in the morning. While it was not surprising to see Hazuki not making the cut since she is still a beginner, the people I expected to make the cut did. The ones who made it consisted of Asuka (of course), Kumiko, Sapphire, Reina (who will be playing a solo), Shuichi (surprisingly) and other named characters I forgot their names of. The only one that didn’t quite make the cut was Natsuki, who doesn’t seem to be happy with the results. This makes wonder how she will react towards Kumiko in the next episode.
Overall, while I’m glad that Sapphire gotten over her depression with help from Hazuki so that she can pass the auditions, what will happen next? Although Reina shows some interest in Taki, it’s quite obvious that there is no chance in hell it will develop since it will be very awkward and he will probably only see it as a student-teacher non-romantic relationship instead. As for Shuichi, this is what I’m worried about. It seems that Kumiko doesn’t seem to care even if Hazuki tries to push her in that direction.
Still, the chances of it happening is questionable considering that they are so far apart and she doesn’t have the courage to turn him down or admit her feelings yet. To me, I don’t think it will get resolved and considering the amount of scenes with Kumiko getting flustered when she sees Reina, I think Shuichi is at a disadvantage. Even so, it will be interesting to see what will happen next as the group of 55 members prepare for the first found of nationals. ¶
Talking about the episode itself we knew this day would come and that for some it wouldn’t be pretty. Shame for the ones who didn’t make it, especially the glum looking sempai. Hope Reina will be ready for the inevitable jealous bullying.
As for that other thing…let’s keep our hopes up.
Yep, jealousy is going to be a thing that can cause members to quit. Then again, it’s resolvable by creating another band as well or have the other group for a lower rank. I suppose there will be enough members to make another group.